Hunting And Shooting Show Previews 1992's Gear, Gadgets

INSIDE THE OUTDOORS

If the country's experiencing a recession you'd have been hard-pressed to notice it at last week's SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show held in New Orleans.

More than 1,200 exhibitors selling everything from deer scents to costly rifles filled the aisles and wrote orders for items old and new that will be on the shelves of sporting goods stores this spring and summer.

I pounded my loafers into show carpets for four days and came away with sore feet and a list of new products and variations on old themes that will hit the market in the weeks and months ahead.

Here's a sampling of some items of interest to intrigue the nation's 25 million hunters and shooters in 1992.

* The biggest news in treestands is Amacker's innovative climber that enables hunters to step over and around limbs and other obstacles on their ways skyward. Dubbed "The Hook," the two-piece device (weighing 18 pounds) allows a hunter to choose practically any tree he or she wants to ascend.

Half of the stand is attached with snowshoe-like straps to each foot for climbing. The hunter is able to work around limbs and branches on trees with varied size trunks. When in place, one part of the stand becomes the seat, the other a foot platform.

Write Amacker, 1212 Main St., Delhi, LA 71232.

* Camouflage is still hot news with more patterns from companies like Realtree, Mossy Oak, Bushlan, Hide `n Pine, Trebark and others.

Of them all, Bill Jordan's newest Realtree design -- appropriately titled the "All-Purpose" pattern -- showed up in a variety of licensee's booths on everything from coveralls to shooting blinds.

The new pattern includes leaves, branches, varied shading and large contrasting openings in a "medium dark" look for a variety of hunting situations. Six different earthtones match virtually any habitat. The pattern avoids symmetry, creating a break-up of the human outline from neck to ankles that should boost the All-Purpose to the respected status of previous Realtree camouflage releases.

Write Spartan Realtree Products, 1390 Box Circle, Columbus, GA 31907.

* Woolrich -- Pennsylvania's best known producer of outdoor apparel -- has renewed its commitment to hunters with an expanded line of Wool-Dura clothing.

Wool-Dura in a blend of 65 per cent wool and 35 per cent Cordura, DuPont's high-tech fabric that resists tears, pulls and anything else encountered in the rugged outdoors. In addition to the classic red-and-black which made Woolrich famous, look for new tweed, herringbone and loden green in the Eagles Mere line of jackets, coats, vests, trousers, knickers, hats and backpacks.

If you're in the market for cold-weather hunting gear, check out this marriage of old (wool) and new (Cordura) before buying.

Write Woolrich, Images Group, Inc., POB 28, Easton, PA 18044-0028.

* Rusty Duck has a sweet marriage, as well -- especially if you're gun cleaning gear seems to end up in various parts of the garage, rec room and basement as mine does.

The company's Gun Care and Shooter's Box is a specialized Plano tackle box with a selection of five gun cleaning products (aerosol solvents and lubricants) from the Kentucky company. There's plenty of room to add rags, cleaning patches, tools and other items plus a unique gun cradle which can be attached to the top of the box and used both for cleaning and as a rest when sighting in.

This answers the need to keep all items in one place at home or in the field.

Write Rusty Duck, 7785 Foundation Drive, Florence, KY 41042.

* Feather-Flex Decoys has expanded its line of featherweight replicas of doves, ducks, geese, crows and owls with additional selections of turkey and deer decoys.

The full-bodied turkey replicas (two hens and a jake) can be folded and stuffed in a backpack and fluffed back into place in the hunting field. The decoys rest on plastic posts upon which they turn and shift with the wind.

Also of note are ultralight buck and doe decoys, the newest product for bowhunters. The "stuffable" decoys add safety to their use by substituting safety orange in place of white throat, ear and belly markings.

* An old idea attempted by Remington and Winchester in years past has been perfected by the Nevada Cartridge Company. Called Tru-Tracer, the shotgun shells provide a "fiery" projectile in the center of the shot pattern. It will be relished by anyone learning claybird sports as it shows the shooter the exact path of the shot, and whether the pattern was behind, ahead, below or above the intended target.

The tracer emits a bright path even in full daylight for 20-60 yards and serves as an excellent teaching tool for both novices and pros. It rapidly loses heat, negating any potential fire hazards. It's available in shot sizes 4-9 and buckshot.